In my work I am interested in the question whether exploring the unconscious might enable us to a more differentiated perception of ourselves and of the world we live in. I believe that new paradigms beyond linear time, euclidian space and abusive use of nature are urgently needed due to the multiple, interconnected crises of today, paradigms that art can contribute to. In my multidisciplinary projects I address the relationship between human beings and inanimate objects and plead for more interaction with non-human actors. It is in the context of post-humanism and post-scientism that I would like to place my artistic practice, my recent projects (like „Mandragora“, 2023-24) being inspired by the new-materialism philosophy of philosophers like Rosi Braidotti and Jane Bennett. Maurice Merleau-Ponty speaks of the “flesh of the world“ to which we belong as humans, inescapably interwoven with it through our senses, thinking and acting. For me, creating is exploring the “body“ of the world and constantly re-assessing my belonging to it. Since early childhood, I have literally “drawn“ and “written“ myself into the “flesh of the world“, leaving traces behind me that I further develop by means of artistic research. What I have been working on for the last twenty years is thus not a static body of work, but a constantly changing environment in which other persons, places and objects have contributed to the creation of my artistic realm.
Biography
Lavinia was born 1981 in Romania and is currently living in Germany, where she completed a degree in architecture. A stage-design study and various cooperations in architectural offices and theaters followed. Besides working as a freelance visual artist, she is a PhD candidate in the field of architecture theory at Graz University of Technology, Austria and a coordinating editor of Degrowth Journal, a peer reviewed publication on post-growth. Her research explores how spatial concepts develop over time and how they merge with utopian streams and with totalitarian systems. Lavinia has taken part in various exhibitions in Germany and abroad. Her interdisciplinary research is informed by historical knowledge as well as by her artistic practice. Sources of inspiration ranging from medieval literature and iconography to anthropology and psychoanalysis undergo different stages in a slow process until they become series of drawings, photographs, performances or essays.